What happened: The Midland County Commissioners Court met on Tuesday, Feb. 3, and featured public disputes over whether sexism plays a role in staffing decisions, repeated clashes over tax-rate versus revenue claims, and confrontations during public comment that pulled the discussion off the agenda.

  • Deputy constable: The deputy constable discussion turned to whether gender played a role in hiring a deputy for Precinct 4 Constable Jamie Hall. Anderson said Constable Hall “has gotten into some situations lately that have been very dangerous for her” and said she “needs the help.”

County Judge Terry Johnson argued, “You wanted her to have an assistant because she’s a female. That’s sexism in reverse. And so that’s when I had a change of heart about what we had done,” referring to the deputy’s removal in Sept. 2025.

Anderson moved to approve the position, and Commissioner Steven Villela seconded. Anderson, Villela, and Commissioner Charles Hall, Constable Hall’s father, voted for the deputy while Johnson and Commissioner Jeff Sommers voted against. Read The Permian Press’ extensive coverage of this issue. 

  • Tax rate: During a discussion with Sheriff David Criner, Villela said operational data helps justify decisions“when we’re having to raise taxes.” Johnson questioned whether he meant to say “raise taxes” or “levy taxes,” meaning imposing and collecting taxes, saying the court has not raised the tax rate during his tenure. Villela said, “I’m pretty sure the tax rate has increased several times.”

Editor’s note: Midland County’s property tax rate is lower today than it was a decade ago, decreasing about 22% overall since 2017, though it increased in three individual years during that period.

Villela later argued that total county tax revenue has increased over time and said the court can influence that outcome by adjusting the tax rate. Johnson noted that increases in total tax collections are not the same as raising the tax rate, and that growth drives the amount of total tax revenue the county collects.

Editor’s note: Both statements reflect different parts of how property taxes work. The county projects total property tax collections will increase by about 1.5% this year, while the tax rate will decrease by about 7.8%. The county projects to receive roughly $13 million more in total revenue this year, mainly from sales tax and other non-property revenue.

  • Public comment: During the public comment portion of the deputy constable agenda item, Lance Friday, a candidate for Precinct 4 commissioner running against Anderson, gave remarks against the hiring. Friday told the court it should not support “actions driven by politics or pressure.” After Friday’s comments, Anderson asked off agenda, “How much did you contribute to Judge Johnson’s campaign?”

Johnson pushed back, saying, “He paid me so he could speak on the subject? Is that what you’re implying?” Villela asked Friday, “Would you like more law enforcement in your precinct?” Friday responded that it was a “loaded question.”

  • Fleet management: The county presented early results from its partnership with Sewell Fleet Management, including roughly $100,000 in quarterly savings. Changes include triage repair routing, faster preventative maintenance, and invoice transparency through an auditor-accessible portal.
  • Private roads: Commissioners debated allowing variances for private streets, including reduced width and modified water specifications. Hall, Anderson, and Villela expressed concerns about whether the county could eventually assume maintenance responsibility over private roads.

Sommers, whose precinct the variance request is in, pushed back, saying, “It makes the project so that it’s not feasible for an investor to do that. In addition, there’s very light traffic on those roads.” An initial motion to deny the variance by Hall, with Anderson in agreement, failed for lack of enough support. A second motion by Sommers to allow the developer to pursue variances passed, with Johnson, Sommers, and Villela in favor.